10 tips to win on Black Friday

The day is coming. And your strategy should already be thought out for Black Friday, the last Friday of November when a wave of promotions comes to boost sales at the end of the year. Christophe Matos, Global CMO et Board Memberof Kwanko, gave Marketeer a list of 10 basic rules for brands to survive and win on Black Friday.

1- A 100% Black Friday Global Strategy

National advertisers have followed the international trend of betting more and more on Black Friday and its impact on annual sales clearly justifies a decisive strategy. Black Friday requires a dedicated P&L that does not forget to account for cannibalization of non-discounted sales and write-offs in the final margins.

2- Start early…

Act early and efficiently to create the right stimulus at the perfect time. Black Friday is the day of the year with the most first-time online purchases. All the details count in creating a “moment of truth” that results in a positive and potentially repeated experience. It’s the day to shine and advertisers have to be prepared. Consumers themselves prepare for Black Friday in advance and brands have to predict this trend.

3- Increase your database, before, during and after…

Second, only to organic searches of the brand, the Internal Marketing email is the biggest sales channel of online stores. Capturing records turns out to be the best source for prospecting and becomes the advertiser’s biggest asset. Black Friday is the perfect incentive to invite prospects to register and thus lower the effort and costs of capture. Once registered, the brand gains an internal communication support that allows them, through activation and automation strategies, to convert leads into customers.

4- SEO // Enhance organic presence in search engines

Black Friday has to be anticipated and strategically thought out for search engines. Brands have to develop tailored content to create history and gain an organic presence in the main search engine on the market. Advertisers have to be pragmatic in the quality of the contents they intend to have shared by the users themselves and thus spontaneously enhance their organic presence. SEO requires a level of organization and anticipation that is not always cared for, and that sometimes condemns brands to be forced to invest too much in paid searches during the event.

5- PPC // Adwords, Social Media Ads, Email Marketing and Retargeting

When there is no time to refine the organic presence, there is nothing like investing in a PPC strategy to gain presence and take advantage of the search wave. Again, not all companies have the financial capacity to keep up with the rhythm of top searches, but there are simple and effective ways to bet on targeted searches that ensure a positive ROI.

The main best practice for retailers is really the purchase of strategic traffic, especially by sending Marketing emails using external databases with authorization for third party communication. This is the primary direct response channel, but no channel will have so much immediate impact on advertiser dashboards.

During Black Friday, visits to e-commerce sites may triple and the conversion rate eventually drops. It is essential to have a retargeting strategy designed (especially on Facebook) that allows optimizing all that traffic and increasing return on all Online and Offline Marketing initiatives.

6- Custom Audience! Give priority to your customers

Online stores have to focus on boosting their customers’ Recurrence, Frequency and Purchase Value (RFV). Black Friday is, in fact, the biggest opportunity of the year to attract new customers but it is also the perfect time to build loyalty and increase the value of the brand to the customer. Loyalty is no longer limited to internal channels and it is possible, for example, to cross data (example: encrypted mailing list) with Facebook and define a personalized strategy that will boost your results.

7- A Real E-Merchandising Strategy

As in offline, online stores have to know how to play with e-merchandising to stimulate consumers to react according to the strategic objectives of the company. Several reasons may justify highlighting a product: cash generation, profit margin, stock availability, brand positioning, seasonal stimulus… E-Merchandising is today the primary in-store commercial hook and requires increased care during Black Friday because of the momentum inherent to the event.

8- Mobile First

Alibaba reported that 82% of Singles Day sales (November 11) were made from mobile devices. It is fundamental to guide the entire company towards a mobile reality that is already more than implemented.

9- Presence in Strategic Publishers

It is fundamental for brands to bet on channels that channel buyers. Highlight goes to price comparators and coupon sites, which play a key role on these dates.

10- Black Friday will soon be Black November

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Black Week… the seasonal hype is too tempting for brands to not be extended. Being the first to reach consumers turns out to be an endless war that requires some competitive strategy and vigilance. Time-to-market is key and it is up to the brands to stimulate consumers before, during and after the event.

Find soon the second article of our Black Friday series… You would like to entrust us your budget, consult our offers!